(A similar process
in "miniature" occurs on our sun: kinked or looped magnetic fields
reach a point of collapse when they release a burst of energy that
reaches us as a solar storm. The radiation is much weaker than a gamma
ray burst, but it is strong enough to be unhealthy or lethal without
special shielding to people in space and to disrupt satellite
communication. Particles ionized by the radiation spiral into Earth,
especially at the poles, creating aurorae and disrupting many kinds of
electrical activity.)

Terrestrial
gamma-ray flashes (or TGFs) are short blasts of gamma-ray
energy associated with major thunderstorms discovered by the BATSE
team shortly after the satellite carrying BATSE was launched. The
flashes only last a few milliseconds and can only be detected by
satellites orbiting the Earth. After eight years of observations, the
BATSE team has detected 70 TGFs, but this is probably only a (small?)
subset of all the flashes during that time.